What is happiness essay

Updated on October 5, 2021

Happiness is probably the most pursued factor in life, above wealth, health, and good relationships. We all want to be happy, above everything else, right? Who cares about money when you’re not happy? Who cares about friends when you’re not happy with who you are? Who cares about good health if you’re lonely and depressed?

Happiness is the thing that most people want, yet it is one of the most difficult aspects of life to quantify. How do we measure happiness? How do we define happiness? What is happiness!? This is an essay that explores the many different faces of happiness. As you’ll learn, happiness doesn’t have a single universal definition. Its definition is unique for every single human being out there. Including you.

After reading this essay, you’ll know exactly what happiness is, how to define it for yourself, and even how to find it based on actionable advice.

What is happiness?

Before starting this essay about happiness, we must at least have a broad idea of what happiness is. Let’s first have a look at how happiness is defined across the web.

Definition of happiness

Definitions of happiness vary quite a bit across multiple sources. Google thinks happiness is defined as follows:

Google has a hard time defining what happiness really is.

You can see how Google is pretty vague about the definition of happiness. Furthermore, it quickly follows with a long list of synonyms.

Wikipedia has a much more interesting definition of what happiness is.

The feeling of an emotion such as pleasure or joy, the appraisal of life satisfaction or the quality of life, subjective well-being and eudaimonia.

Wikipedia seems to better acknowledge how hard it is to define happiness

Lesson learned? It is really difficult to find a universally correct and agreed-upon definition of what happiness really is.

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Think of all the synonyms that we use to describe feelings that are similar to happiness.

Happiness synonyms

What I like about Google is that it shows synonyms of happiness to people that are looking for its definition.

It’s like they’re saying: «Hey, we don’t know exactly how to define happiness, but here are a couple of concepts that we believe are very much similar!»

The list of synonyms is quite big:

I think there is a lot we can learn just from the fact that happiness has so many synonyms.

Why? Because these synonyms are all specific variants of what happiness means to me. And I bet you feel the same.

All these different emotions are part of what happiness truly is. And that’s what makes happiness so incredibly difficult to define and measure. It’s a weighted average of all these different synonyms, and the equation of happiness truly changes per person. I’ll even go as far as to say that the happiness equation changes per person per day.

If pleasure makes me happy today, it doesn’t mean that that same amount of pleasure makes me happy tomorrow.

If short-term satisfaction made me happy yesterday, then it won’t necessarily make me happy next week.

What I want you to realize is that your personal definition of happiness is unique. What makes you happy doesn’t necessarily make another person happy. In fact, your definition of happiness is likely a combination of satisfaction, cheeriness, merriment, and jollity.

But the way you personally define happiness will likely change from day to day as well.

And that’s one of the most critical aspects of happiness. That’s also why it’s supposedly so hard to measure and quantify. Here’s an entire article I wrote recently about how difficult it is to define happiness, but you can still try for yourself!

Still with me? Good, because I’m going to add yet another reason why happiness is such a difficult thing to measure!

Different kinds of happiness

There are different kinds of happiness. Not just in the way we define happiness, but also in the way we experience it.

As part of this essay, I want to introduce the concepts of short-term and long-term happiness.

Short-term happiness

Short-term happiness is relatively easy to explain. It’s based on small and easy to obtain, yet rather unsustainable happiness. When looking at the list of happiness synonyms, I think the following concepts are clearly centered around short-term happiness:

These things result in short-term happiness because dopamine is released based on a single event. When this event is over, the pleasure is gone. That’s why I consider this to be short-term happiness.

And then there is long-term happiness.

Long-term happiness

Long-term happiness is a little bit harder to explain because it revolves around other concepts of happiness. Instead of joy, pleasure, and ecstasy, the concepts that make up long-term happiness are:

I hope you can spot the difference here. Long-term happiness is created by feeling happy about your purpose in life, the successes that you’ve had and/or the satisfaction of who you are and what you’ve accomplished. Long-term happiness is based on concepts that are not created by a single event. For example, I’m happy at the moment because I’m grateful for the life that I have right now. This happiness is not caused by something I’m doing at this very moment. No, I’m happy because I work hard and have achieved things that I am proud of. I have created a situation in which I am happy by default, without having to rely on single events.

Define your own balance between short term and long term happiness

Now that you are aware of these two different kinds of happiness, I want you to picture some scenarios.

You might have guessed it, but this scenario is focused exclusively on short-term happiness. And the simple fact is that pursuing nothing but short-term happiness does not lead to a sustainable happy life.

Now picture the following scenario:

This is another extreme example of happiness. You can probably see how this person is very likely unhappy. He is spending the best years of his life making sacrifices in anticipation of what he eventually wants to become. For a lot of people, this sounds like a logical decision. But to me, this sounds like a huge mistake. You might feel satisfied with the progress you’re making, but are you truly happy? If you get in a fatal car crash tomorrow, would you have any regrets?

I want you to think about this for a moment since a lot of people in industrialized countries have the urge to constantly be planning for the future. And while this is not a bad thing in principle, we often take it too far. As a result, we are constantly sprinting from one deadline to the other. Sure, you want to plan for a happy future, but what’s the point of all of this when you’re not happy in the process itself?

A happy balance

The thing is, these extreme examples are not something that you should want. You can only lead a truly happy life when you actively pursue both short-term and long-term happiness.

It’s important to find out what your perfect balance is.

I’m not here to tell you that you should focus 50% of your attention on short-term happiness and the other 50% on long-term happiness. No. I’m here to tell you that you should be aware of your own happiness. Every single person on this planet has a different definition of happiness. You need to find out what happiness means to you, and how you want to pursue it.

For me personally, I often notice how much short-term happiness I’m sacrificing in anticipation of long-term happiness. Some examples:

These are some real examples of how I’ve been sacrificing my short-term happiness for long-term happiness. I want you to think of a couple of examples for yourself. Have you ever made a bad decision that resulted in a decreased level of happiness?

Think about some real scenarios that you’ve experienced and whether you should have acted differently.

I’m not saying that sacrificing short-term happiness for long-term happiness is bad. I just want you to know that you need to find a balance. For example, I do actually want to finish my next marathon within a decent time, but I’m not going to make myself miserable by pushing myself to the limit in preparation. That’s not the balance that I’m after.

The thing is, realizing the difference between short-term and long-term happiness makes it easier for us to pursue happiness in our lives.

Pursue happiness, you ask?

Yes! I believe that happiness can actively be pursued and that you can steer your life in the best direction possible by doing this. However, there are a number of people that believe that pursuing happiness is a loser’s game. These people argue that by pursuing happiness, you’ll be more tempted to choose short-term happiness over long-term happiness. This is where the hedonic treadmill will quickly evaporate whatever happiness you’ve created for yourself.

The hedonic treadmill

Imagine something that you would really like to do right now.

What did you think of? Taking a long warm bath? Drinking wine with your friends? Going to an amusement park?

Wouldn’t it be great if you could do that right now? That would definitely have a positive influence on your happiness, right?

Now think about doing that exact thing every day, for the rest of your life, until the day you die.

Do you think you’d still be happy from doing that same thing after the 10th time? Or the 100th time? Or the 1000th time?

Why eternal happiness doesn’t exist

The answer is probably no. Even though this example is extreme, the theory of diminishing returns applies here. When repeated, the effect of the same event on your happiness will diminish to zero. That’s because the norms of what defines your happiness are constantly adapting. Your happiness equation transforms with your changing life, whether it’s for better or worse.

One of the best examples of this hedonic treadmill is the following:

Think of a big salary bump. You receive a raise of 50%! Congratulations, you now have money to spend on all kinds of things that make you and your family happy! Will that happiness sustain into the future? Unfortunately not. Instead of appreciating the luxury of your raise, you will grow accustomed to this extra money and will slowly take it for granted. This adaptation is known as the hedonic treadmill, and it is generally conceived as the arch-enemy of happiness.

This is what I think of when coming across the hedonic treadmill (excuse my photoshopping skills)

Why eternal happiness can still be pursued

Now that you know what this hedonic treadmill is, it might seem like a waste of time to continue reading this essay, right?

See, nobody on the internet will be able to define happiness for you. What makes you happy is a constantly changing equation that is unique in every way. Why would you believe some scientist when he or she claims that happiness is impossible to pursue? What does that scientist know about you? Nothing!

It’s up to you to define what makes you happy.

How to find your own happiness

By now, you should know 3 things:

Let’s combine this knowledge. I want you to realize that you can learn more about your own happiness equation. You can find out what it is that makes you happy.

Got it? Good, because the next step is to define what the difference is between short-term and long-term happiness. You have to find out how much you value your happiness on the journey itself and how much of that happiness you want to sacrifice by investing in a potentially happier future.

Now, what if I told you that a perfect balance between long-term and short-term happiness can limit the effect that the hedonic treadmill has on you?

Yes, by consciously varying the pursuit of short-term and long-term happiness, you can vary the factors in your life in a way that leads to greater happiness. If you are aware of your own happiness equation, you’re able to pursue happiness in the areas where it matters the most.

Defining your own happiness

What I want you to do is consider your personal happiness again for a moment.

Think back at the last week, and remember what things or events had a positive influence on your happiness. Think of the things that really made you smile or feel satisfied with where you were or how you acted.

What came to your mind? Was it work? Was it your relationship? Was it that silly movie you watched? Was it a nice sunny day spent outside? It could be literally anything! What I want most of all now is that you realize how you just measured a part of your happiness.

You see, even though happiness is claimed to be the factor of life that’s the most difficult to measure, you can still measure what is currently part of your happiness equation. It’s simple. For me personally, when I think back to yesterday, I remember that I really enjoyed spending time with my girlfriend, walking through the woods on a sunny day, and just relaxing (a.k.a. doing nothing!)

These are happiness factors that were a vital part of my happiness equation yesterday. It was a weekend day after a long and busy week at work, so I was really trying to find some short-term happiness. The things that I did yesterday were perfect, as it was a very happy day for me.

You should not be surprised if I told you that I was consciously trying to be happy by spending my day doing things that satisfied my short-term happiness.

You can do exactly the same. All you need to do is to define your own happiness.

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Closing words

And with that said, I want to conclude this essay about happiness. Happiness is different for every single human being on this planet. If you arrived at this essay without having a clear idea of what happiness is, I hope you now know that your personal happiness can be defined, measured, and quantified. But only YOU can do this, no one else will be able to tell you what happiness really is. If you are willing to actively pursue greater happiness, I believe you can steer your life in the best direction.

Now it’s time to hear from you! How do you define your own happiness right now? What has been your biggest happiness factor last week? Do you think you can learn from your own happiness?

I’d love to hear all about it in the comments!

Hugo Huijer

Founder of Tracking Happiness and lives in the Netherlands. Ran 5 marathons, with one of them in under 4 hours (3:59:58 to be exact). Data junkie and happiness tracker for over 7 years.

What Is Happiness?

Defining Happiness, and How to Become Happier

Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author and educational consultant focused on helping students learn about psychology.

Rachel Goldman, PhD FTOS, is a licensed psychologist, clinical assistant professor, speaker, wellness expert specializing in eating behaviors, stress management, and health behavior change.

Verywell/ Jiaqi Zhou

What Is Happiness?

Happiness is something that people seek to find, yet what defines happiness can vary from one person to the next. When most people talk about the true meaning of happiness, they might be talking about how they feel in the present moment or referring to a more general sense of how they feel about life overall.

Happiness Definition:

Happiness is an emotional state characterized by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment. While happiness has many different definitions, it is often described as involving positive emotions and life satisfaction.

Because happiness tends to be such a broadly defined term, psychologists and other social scientists typically use the term ‘subjective well-being’ when they talk about this emotional state. Just as it sounds, subjective well-being tends to focus on an individual’s overall personal feelings about their life in the present.

Two key components of happiness (or subjective well-being) are:

Another definition of happiness comes from the ancient philosopher Aristotle, who suggested that happiness is the one human desire, and all other human desires exist as a way to obtain happiness. He believed that there were four levels of happiness: happiness from immediate gratification, from comparison and achievement, from making positive contributions, and from achieving fulfillment.

Happiness, Aristotle suggested, could be achieved through the golden mean, which involves finding a balance between deficiency and excess.

Signs of Happiness

While perceptions of happiness may be different from one person to the next, there are some key signs that psychologists look for when measuring and assessing happiness.

Some key signs of happiness include:

One important thing to remember is that happiness isn’t a state of constant euphoria. Instead, happiness is an overall sense of experiencing more positive emotions than negative ones.

Happy people still feel the whole range of human emotions—anger, frustrastion, boredom, loneliness, and even sadness—from time to time. But even when faced with discomfort, they have an underlying sense of optimism that things will get better, that they can deal with what is happening, and that they will be able to feel happy again.

Types of Happiness

There are many different ways of thinking about happiness. For example, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle made a distinction between two different kinds of happiness: hedonia and eudaimonia.

Hedonia and eudemonia are more commonly known today in psychology as pleasure and meaning, respectively. More recently, psychologists have suggested the addition of the third component that relates to engagement. These are feelings of commitment and participation in different areas of life.

Research suggests that happy people tend to rank pretty high on eudaimonic life satisfaction and better than average on their hedonic life satisfaction.

All of these can play an important role in the overall experience of happiness, although the relative value of each can be highly subjective. Some activities may be both pleasurable and meaningful, while others might skew more one way or the other.

For example, volunteering for a cause you believe in might be more meaningful than pleasurable. Watching your favorite tv show, on the other hand, might rank lower in meaning and higher on pleasure.

Some types of happiness that may fall under these three main categories include:

How to Cultivate Happiness

While some people just tend to be naturally happier, there are things that you can do to cultivate your sense of happiness.

Pursue Intrinsic Goals

Achieving goals that you are intrinsically motivated to pursue, particularly ones that are focused on personal growth and community, can help boost happiness. Research suggests that pursuing these types of intrinsically-motivated goals can increase happiness more than pursuing extrinsic goals like gaining money or status. 

Enjoy the Moment

Studies have found that people tend to over earn—they become so focused on accumulating things that they lose track of actually enjoying what they are doing. 

So, rather than falling into the trap of mindlessly accumulating to the detriment of your own happiness, focus on practicing gratitude for the things you have and enjoying the process as you go.

Reframe Negative Thoughts

When you find yourself stuck in a pessimistic outlook or experiencing negativity, look for ways that you can reframe your thoughts in a more positive way.

People have a natural negativity bias, or a tendency to pay more attention to bad things than to good things. This can have an impact on everything from how you make decisions to how you form impressions of other people. Discounting the positive—a cognitive distortion where people focus on the negative and ignore the positive—can also contribute to negative thoughts.

Reframing these negative perceptions isn’t about ignoring the bad. Instead, it means trying to take a more balanced, realistic look at events. It allows you to notice patterns in your thinking and then challenge negative thoughts.

Impact of Happiness

Why is happiness so important? Happiness has been shown to predict positive outcomes in many different areas of life including mental well-being, physical health, and overall longevity.

How to Be a Happier Person

Some people seem to have a naturally higher baseline for happiness—one large-scale study of more than 2,000 twins suggested that around 50% of overall life satisfaction was due to genetics, 10% to external events, and 40% to individual activities.

So while you might not be able to control what your “base level” of happiness is, there are things that you can do to make your life happier and more fulfilling. Even the happiest of individuals can feel down from time to time and happiness is something that all people need to consciously pursue.

Cultivate Strong Relationships

Social support is an essential part of well-being. Research has found that good social relationships are the strongest predictor of happiness. Having positive and supportive connections with people you care about can provide a buffer against stress, improve your health, and help you become a happier person.

In the Harvard Study of Adult Development, a longitudinal study that looked at participants over 80 years, researchers found that relationships and how happy people are in those relationships strongly impacted overall health.

So if you are trying to improve your happiness, cultivating solid social connections is a great place to start. Consider deepening your existing relationships and explore ways to make new friends.

Get Regular Exercise

Exercise is good for both your body and mind. Physical activity is linked to a range of physical and psychological benefits including improved mood. Numerous studies have shown that regular exercise may play a role in warding off symptoms of depression, but evidence also suggests that it may also help make people happier, too.

In one analysis of past research on the connection between physical activity and happiness, researchers found a consistent positive link. 

Even a little bit of exercise produces a happiness boost—people who were physically active for as little as 10 minutes a day or who worked out only once a week had higher levels of happiness than people who never exercised.

Show Gratitude

In one study, participants were asked to engage in a writing exercise for 10 to 20 minutes each night before bed.   Some were instructed to write about daily hassles, some about neutral events, and some about things they were grateful for. The results found that people who had written about gratitude had increase positive emotions, increased subjective happiness, and improve life satisfaction.

As the authors of the study suggest, keeping a gratitude list is a relatively easy, affordable, simple, and pleasant way to boost your mood. Try setting aside a few minutes each night to write down or think about things in your life that you are grateful for.

Find a Sense of Purpose

Research has found that people who feel like they have a purpose have better well-being and feel more fulfilled.   A sense of purpose involves seeing your life as having goals, direction, and meaning. It may help improve happiness by promoting healthier behaviors.

Some things you can do to help find a sense of purpose include:

This sense of purpose is influenced by a variety of factors, but it is also something that you can cultivate. It involves finding a goal that you care deeply about that will lead you to engage in productive, positive actions in order to work toward that goal.

Press Play for Advice On Reaching Your Dreams

Hosted by Editor-in-Chief and therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast, featuring best-selling author Dave Hollis, shares how to create your best life. Click below to listen now.

Challenges of Finding Happiness

While seeking happiness is important, there are times when the pursuit of life satisfaction falls short. Some challenges to watch for include:

Valuing the Wrong Things

Money may not be able to buy happiness, but there is research that spending money on things like experiences can make you happier than spending it on material possessions.

One study, for example, found that spending money on things that buy time—such as spending money on time-saving services—can increase happiness and life satisfaction. 

Rather than overvaluing things such as money, status, or material possessions, pursuing goals that result in more free time or enjoyable experiences may have a higher happiness reward.

Not Seeking Social Support

Social support means having friends and loved ones that you can turn to for support. Research has found that perceived social support plays an important role in subjective well-being. For example, one study found that perceptions of social support were responsible for 43% of a person’s level of happiness. 

It is important to remember that when it comes to social support, quality is more important than quantity. Having just a few very close and trusted friends will have a greater impact on your overall happiness than having many casual acquaintances.

Thinking of Happiness as an Endpoint

Happiness isn’t a goal that you can simply reach and be done with. It is a constant pursuit that requires continual nurturing and sustenance.

One study found that people who tend to value happiness most also tended to feel the least satisfied with their lives.   Essentially, happiness becomes such a lofty goal that it becomes virtually unattainable.

“Valuing happiness could be self-defeating because the more people value happiness, the more likely they will feel disappointed,” suggest the authors of the study.

Perhaps the lesson is to not make something as broadly defined as “happiness” your goal. Instead, focus on building and cultivating the sort of life and relationships that bring fulfillment and satisfaction to your life.

It is also important to consider how you personally define happiness. Happiness is a broad term that means different things to different people. Rather than looking at happiness as an endpoint, it can be more helpful to think about what happiness really means to you and then work on small things that will help you become happier. This can make achieving these goals more manageable and less overwhelming.

History of Happiness

Happiness has long been recognized as a critical part of health and well-being. The «pursuit of happiness» is even given as an inalienable right in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Our understanding of what will bring happiness, however, has shifted over time.

Psychologists have also proposed a number of different theories to explain how people experience and pursue happiness. These theories include:

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The hierarchy of needs suggests that people are motivated to pursue increasingly complex needs. Once more basic needs are fulfilled, people are then motivated by more psychological and emotional needs.

At the peak of the hierarchy is the need for self-actualization, or the need to achieve one’s full potential. The theory also stresses the importance of peak experiences or transcendent moments in which a person feels deep understanding, happiness, and joy.

Positive Psychology

The pursuit of happiness is central to the field of positive psychology. Psychologists who study positive psychology are interested in learning ways to increase positivity and helping people live happier, more satisfying lives.

Rather than focusing on mental pathologies, the field instead strives to find ways to help people, communities, and societies improve positive emotions and achieve greater happiness.

Happiness Essay | Essay on Happiness for Students and Children in English

Happiness Essay: There is no one hard and fast definition for the term happiness. Happiness differs from person to person; different people have different perceptions and conceptions of being happy. Whatever that may be, Happiness is an essential feature of human life. Without it, life holds no meaning at all. It is not possible at all for a person to live their lives devoid of joy and Happiness.

The topic of Happiness is of the utmost importance. It is also treated as a crucial and popular topic on which students are asked to write compositions. For the convenience of school students, we have compiled a collection of one extended Essay and one short Essay on the topic of Happiness. Additionally, a set of ten lines on the subject is also provided.

You can read more Essay Writing about articles, events, people, sports, technology many more.

Long and Short Essays on Happiness for Students and Kids in English

Below, you can find a 600-word Happiness essay as well as a 200-word Happiness essay for students and schoolchildren. Long Essay on Happiness is helpful for students of classes 7,8,9 and 10. Short Essay on Happiness is helpful for students of classes 1,2,3,4,5, and 6.

Long Essay on Happiness 500 Words in English

Happiness is subjective. There is no one way in which the term can be defined. For different people, Happiness holds different connotations. For some, it implies a state of mind; for others, it might mean a standard of lifestyle. Each human being is an independent, free-thinking individual. Everyone has an outlook on life that is different from the other. Hence, the definition of Happiness is also variable for people. However, whatever may be the definition of Happiness, there is no denying that Happiness is an integral part of our lives. Without it, there is no point in living or going about in life.

There is a common phrase that goes: “Money cannot buy happiness.” To some extent, it can be heralded as being valid. However, some people may find it to be false. For a specific section of society, Happiness is defined by wealth. These people tend to consider wealth as the measuring rod for their joys in life. For them, Happiness in life comes from material possession and well-being. Riches, money, jewels, gold, and wealth make them happy; they remain content with these in their lives.

For another section of society, wealth does not act as the agent for Happiness in their lives. Many consider Happiness to be a peaceful and calm sense of joy that occurs within one’s mind. For them, it cannot be measured in terms of worldly things. Happiness tends to become a feeling, that can be grasped through the satisfaction of the mind and soul, and not through the pleasure of the body. Happiness, for some, can also imply success. Being ambitious, hardworking, and successful often become ways in which a person obtains Happiness in life.

Whatever be our modes and methods of becoming happy, it tends to keep changing over time. No feeling is absolute. It might happen that the things used to make us comfortable during our childhood, no longer hold the same significance in our lives. This happens because our priorities and our goals change over time. As we grow up, our outlook and vision in life mature, and we no longer base our Happiness on things we used to love previously.

Thus the state of being happy largely depends upon what a particular person wants from life. It depends upon a person’s desires and goals in life. Above all and in most cases, indulging in the things that one loves the most becomes the key to a happy life. Hence, love and Happiness are directly linked. Without love, Happiness does not persist. Likewise, without Happiness, love does not persist.

As mentioned, a variety of things make a variety of people happy. There is no right or wrong way to obtain Happiness. Different people have different methods by which they can derive Happiness. All of them are valid; none of them are false or incorrect. Judging people based on what they love and what they hate is not justifiable. We all have different priorities in life, and not all of those are similar. They can be different, but that doesn’t mean they are wrong. Doing anything that makes one feel happy inside out should be considered as valid and rightful.

Short Essay on Happiness 150 Words in English

The key to happiness lies in doing what one loves. A lot of people end up having a remorseful life, filled with regrets; this happens because they settle for something that they do not genuinely like. Irrespective of what the society imposes on us, we must indulge in only that which makes us feel happy and joyous.

One cannot achieve complete and untainted happiness. Someone can’t dwell in a state of utmost bliss and Happiness. All of us have our fair share of miseries and regrets in life. But there also occurs moments of indefinite and immeasurable joys. We should all cling to those moments of joy and cherish them wholeheartedly to have a happy life in the grand scheme of things.

10 Lines on Happiness Essay in English

FAQ’s on Happiness Essay

Question 1.
How to lead a happy life?

Answer:
To lead a happy life, one must dwell in a positive and encouraging environment. Taking up that which one loves doing as one’s profession and source of livelihood is also the key to a happy life.

Question 2.
How to stay happy?

Answer:
There is no hard and fast method of staying happy. One cannot remain satisfied all the time. We all have our depressing and sorrowful episodes. But life also gives us moments of joy and Happiness.

Question 3.
Is Happiness important?

Answer:
Yes. Happiness is important. Happiness Is probably the most significant aspect of one’s life.

Assignment: Essay About Happiness

Being a college or university student often means doing a lot of written assignments. Thus, you can be assigned works on various thought-provoking topics and of different genres, such as a bullying essay, a happiness essay, a movie or book review, a lab report, and a case study. Assigning essays is the most common method professors use to test students’ progress.

There are a great variety of subjects that you may be asked to write about, and a happiness essay seems to be one of the most popular assignments. Lecturers like to say it is the easiest one. In fact, when it comes to writing it yourself, lots of problems can appear. One of the main issues is to decide what happiness actually is.

Also, students often tend to be confused about the structure of an essay. It’s important to remember that a good essay contains the following elements:

The first part of the essay is the introduction. You have to introduce your topic to the audience, and in the case of a happiness definition essay introduction, you have to do it in a manner every reader will understand what the essay will cover. Needless to say, you should make your topic seem interesting. For this purpose, you are free to use any appropriate quotation, question, or statement.

The second part is the thesis statement. In the thesis statement, you have to express your main idea about the topic of your essay. Of course, the thesis statement will not always remain the same by the end of your essay, so you may need to adjust it when you have finished. In order to write a good thesis statement, you should keep it within three sentences. If possible, write your thesis in one clear sentence.

In the body paragraphs, you have to include a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph. All sentences which follow the topic sentence should develop, explain, and support the thesis statement. Concerning the number of paragraphs you should have in your definition of happiness essay, there’s no common rule. Sometimes it is enough to have three short paragraphs, and sometimes more than five paragraphs are needed.

In the last part of your essay, you should write the conclusions you’ve made after developing your thesis statement. They should be as clear as possible without introducing new ideas that were not mentioned in the body. Check to see that your essay proved your thesis, but avoid presenting a long summary of the essay here.

Writing a Successful Essay on Happiness Secrets

To get a good grade, it is not enough to have only read a good essay example. Though it is important to follow the guidelines mentioned above, what you write in your essay is often far more important than how you write it. In this case, your understanding of the topic plays a crucial role. When writing an essay about happiness, your primary task is to define what happiness means to you. That seems easy, doesn’t it? Happiness is when you are happy. But what makes you happy? This sounds like a simple subject, but it has so many meanings.

It’s often hard to make up your mind when it comes to writing a happiness essay. Many philosophers have tried to answer the questions concerning happiness, from Plato to modern and postmodern thinkers. And now it’s your turn to write an essay about happiness. All you have to do is give your own understanding of happiness. In this case, try to think of some activities or special people that make you feel happy. For example, someone may say happiness is ice-cream at summertime (kids usually love it). For others, dancing all night long is real happiness. And for others still, having something to eat and a place to sleep makes them happy. Everything depends on who you are and what you need to be happy. If you have material goods, but no family love or warmness, it is likely you will consider a big and caring family as happiness. If someone does not have enough money to live a decent life, then winning the jackpot could be a form of real happiness for that person. As you can see, happiness is all about personal feelings and thoughts. When you write your short essay about happiness in life, you need to express what you believe will make you happy.

Happiness Essay: What Does Happiness Mean For You

Everyone defines the word happiness in their own special way, connecting it with the way life develops. We all invest different meanings in the concept of happiness. Some people may find their happiness in being in a romantic relationship. Others may find their happiness in wealth and fame, while others still are happy merely because they feel healthy and alive. I think that we give happiness different values at different stages of our lives. After all, it even happens that the same person today in order to be happy strives for love and family, while tomorrow is worried about money and a career, and after a while, all he or she needs is perfect health. Everyone determines the meaning of happiness differently, and this is the only universal recipe for how to become happy.

For a significant amount of people, happiness is a material asset, a secure life. For spiritually rich people, the possibility of spiritual growth is of great value. Despite the meaning it has to a particular person, happiness does not occur by accident. It always has to be made, it has to be discovered, created, and produced, built from the ground up. And this could only be achieved by deciding to be happy. People must have a tenet to be happy no matter how difficult events await them ahead. By all means, life, with countless catastrophes and suffering, always gets in the way of people enjoying their own lives. This can indeed distort a person’s happiness.
Maybe the most essential quality everyone needs to develop on their path to being happy is having gratitude. This is the quality of being thankful, a readiness to show appreciation for anything and to give one’s kindness in return. This is another approach that people of all cultures use to cultivate happiness. This method suggests not to focus one’s mental energy on harmful elements, such as health problems and financial issues. These people prefer to focus their energy on being thankful for waking up in the morning, for having around people they love and are being loved by, being able to breathe and think, for being alive. They are grateful for anything and anyone. The secret of a pleasant life is to make gratitude a daily habit or even a ritual (Russell et al.).

People seem to be so afraid of being lonely that they fail to recognize toxicity in their social connections. Selfish, untrustworthy, and overall adverse people inflict more harm than good to their friends just by being around them. Yes, life is rather lonely, and people die alone shortly after they are brought into this world alone. But this is something inevitable that no one is able to postpone. Therefore, there is no point in focusing on negativity. It would be better to concentrate your energy on building healthy relations with people who are worth being a part of your life because they know how important people are. People need the company of others to dispel their solitude because it most likely will cause them to linger over negative things, such as problems and miseries. People should be skeptical and uncertain when allowing strangers into their lives and getting close to others. Unfortunately, not all people have good intentions. Many exploit the kindness of other people, and regrettably, this happens to the best out there (Russell et al.).

The most important thing that happiness is dependent on is one’s job. It does not matter how many hours a week the work lasts, nor how much profit it produces. The only thing that matters concerning the job is how satisfactory the person feels doing it. If people have a job that they do not even like, then they should quit it immediately. Such a position makes them a worse person, a person they do not want to be. If this situation causes resentment, the person needs to be looking for another job. It does not bring happiness, it does bring fulfillment. Instead, it detracts people from their own happiness. Therefore, it would be much better to find a hobby that consists of the thing they love doing the most to turn into an actual job. This means that to be happy, one must have to make crucial decisions regarding the chosen job or career (Thaler et al.).

Finally, happiness is not something that is obtained by accident. Instead, this is a result of continuous and challenging work. But it can be accomplished, and not just short-term happiness, but also true, long-lasting happiness. Again, happiness is not something that just comes to a person. In fact, the majority of people have to work vigorously for an extended period of time in order to be happy. But this is something that every individual can create on their own. Happiness can fall into anyone’s hands because everyone deserves to be happy.

Russell, Bertrand, and Tim Phillips. The Conquest of Happiness. Infinite Ideas, 2010.
Thaler, Richard H., and Cass R. Sunstein. Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Penguin Books, 2009.

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Happiness Essay: Example and Tips

“What does happiness mean for you?” is such a standard and even banal topic for an essay, that you need to think very creatively in order to write something interesting. That is why this article will be about developing creative thinking. The rules of writing an essay are the same. But the content of essays is different every time.

What is creative thinking?

Creative thinking is a process that we all use to generate new ideas, in our case for writing essay about happiness. However, many people believe that they have no creative vein, and they are cunning. They suffer every time when they get a task to write an essay. We are sure that every person is creative from birth. Over the course of thousands of years, in the course of evolutionary development, people learned to think creatively and succeeded well in this. At the next stage, people learned to suppress their creativity. We decided to figure out whether it is possible to regain creative ability and how to increase our creativity.

We are taught to be creative from an early age, but at the same time they are also taught to follow the rules, for example: “colors in coloring book should not go beyond the lines…” The innate ability to be creative is fading due to the fact that we have to get along with the rules of the environment and try to do it “like everyone else”. The older a person becomes, the less often he can afford to show his creative potential.

Our brain does try to follow the logic, but not as often as it seems. The left hemisphere is responsible for logical actions; it is there that the analysis of all facts takes place, the recognition of mathematical symbols, the memorization of names and dates. The right hemisphere gives us the opportunity to dream and imagine. It is the right hemisphere that is responsible for writing essays, the ability to music and visual arts. Yoga with its meditative practices and psychedelic drugs provide an opportunity to touch and experience some experience of right hemisphere perception. However, the secret of effective creative thinking is not to turn off the left hemisphere, but to work out the correct interaction of the left with the right.

Usually creative thinking works both intentionally and accidentally; it is an accident that makes us think about something differently and leads us to some new useful ideas. Other changes are slow due to a series of consecutive logical conclusions. It is through a combination of these random and logical processes that improvement takes place, but it often takes a lot of time, especially in a competitive and constantly accelerating world.

Goal setting and its awareness

Creativity is best viewed as a chain of tasks, a table of content, not an abstract thing. This process helps to solve a specific problem – to come up with an idea for an essay. Not a single person in the entire history has been creative for nothing, regardless of any specific project. When a topic appears, it must be studied from all sides. Creative people, as a rule, have one important habit – they rethink the problem again and again. This means that, instead of immediately rushing to work, they sit back and study the problem from different angles before proceeding to it. And it is good if this stage does not drag on for long weeks and months. That is why, why you get the task of writing an essay, start thinking of it right away. Give yourself time to come up with a creative idea.

Getting to hard work

Scott Berkan, a journalist and author of many self-improvement bestsellers, writes that the biggest difference between recognized geniuses and us is that they work a lot more. They simply spent more time behind a notebook with calculations, in front of an easel or a computer. The main goal is to choose a problem that you care about, and get to work on resolving it. If you care about nothing, then your problem is not in the absence of creative abilities, but in banal apathy.

To make sure of his theory, Berkan offers to take any famous creative character and his main project, thanks to which he gained fame, and explore how many sketches, prototypes and attempts he had to make in order to get such an outstanding result. Of course, flashes of insight happen, but really worthwhile ideas come only when a person works really hard.

Try to do a lot of work, and the quality will automatically flow from quantity. As the designer Stefan Sagmeister said, it is very important to be as little afraid as possible and work as much as possible. “It’s much better to deal with a lot of shit right away than to think about it for a long time, and never get to work,” the designer thought.

Exercises to increase creativity for developing writing skills

“The product of creativity is not a work of genius or divine inspiration, in reality creativity is only the ability to identify problems and develop effective solutions for them,” writes Laura Pappano in The New York Times. Increasing your creativity is like how to build muscle, only a little more difficult. There are special techniques that stimulate deliberate creative thinking. One of the most popular methods is brainstorming, which traditionally begins with the enumeration of non-original ideas, during the collective discussion of which something original is born.

Exercise 1. On a large blank piece of paper in a circle, write your central topic of essay or mark the problem. Ask yourself: “What else can I add to the map, what is related to this topic?” Write down all the ideas in the form of branches emanating from the center, and do not worry if they are too obvious or cliched. It always happens. Use each connection to stimulate new ideas. If one of your ideas leads to a completely new cluster, circle it to emphasize this. Continue to expand the map as far as possible, as long as your imagination allows. Soon you will find completely unpredictable and even “wild” ideas. When the page is full, and you feel that you have not finished yet, try to re-formulate the central theme and make another map, getting a fresh look at the problem.

Exercise 2. This exercise should be practiced in class with other students. An exercise with thirty circles was invented by Bob McKim, and it perfectly “warms up” creative thinking. Give each participant a sheet with 30 identical circles and ask them to draw as many recognizable objects as possible in three minutes. Compare your results and look at the number of ideas, who managed to complete 10, 15, 20 or more circles? Next – look for variety or flexibility in ideas. There are derivative ideas (a basketball, a planet, a cookie, or a smiley), but sometimes people go beyond their own circles, “breaking the rules” and combining them in two or more.

Exercise 3. In search of new knowledge and research of the problem you are interested in, you probably met people who know the topic well. You listened to these people and watched them carefully. Now you need to systematize all the data obtained in the “card of empathy.” Divide the board into four equal parts “say,” “do,” “think” and “feel.” Record each of your observations in a particular area on a separate sticker and place the finished notes in the groups “say” and “do”. And, for example, write down positive statements and actions on green ones, neutral ones on yellow ones, and the most disappointing and problematic ones on pink and red ones. When you run out of space or options that you would like to place in these sections, start to paste stickers in the lower quarters – “think” and “feel”. Now write on the sheets observation regarding body language, tone and word selection. In the end, look at the whole map, does it push any insights and conclusions? Are there contradictions or inconsistencies within individual sectors or between them? Perhaps you see some unexpected connection?

Forget about the result and concentrate on writing

It is important to find a balance. Working on writing an essay without rest can lead to the fact that you quickly get tired of it and “kill” your entire creative reserve, so do not forget about the breaks that will allow you to “cool down”. It is also important to stop worrying about the result all the time. Imagine a situation that you, for example, decided to learn to draw, and never before came into contact with this kind of creativity. You come to the courses where you come across the easel for the first time, and, of course, you are embraced by the fear of making a mistake, of doing something wrong. Trust intuition and your instincts. To learn creativity, it is necessary to develop inner courage and suppress the fear of something new and unknown.

Change the environment

To become more creative, you need to surround yourself with the appropriate environment. It is logical that brainstorming in the circle of creative like-minded people will be more effective than in the company of random people. Communicating with other creative people and sharing ideas gives excellent nourishment. If you need to write the essay about happiness, discuss this topic with friends and family members. Learn what happiness means for them and it will help you to understand yourself better.

However, it is more difficult to endure an innovative idea if you follow the path of “least resistance” using the same familiar set of tools that is at hand. The fact is that getting out of the comfort zone can increase creativity and give you a right push to writing a good happiness essay. That is why, for example, famous writers and artists loved to work in a cafe. This phenomenon is explained in a study whose results were published by the scientific Journal of Consumer Research.

Reading the absurd and surrealist literature also helps the creative process. It was proven that those who read the works of Franz Kafka and Alice in Wonderland are more creative. Scientists have concluded that the human mind is always trying to find logic in the things that are happening, and the surrealistic and absurd plots put the brain at a dead end and provide an opportunity to “reboot.”

Happiness essay example

Introduction

My close friend wrote today: “congratulations on Your day – on the International Day of Happiness!” It warmed my soul. What is my reason to feel happy? I started thinking.

My attitude towards happiness changed throughout life. Once I, like many of my peers, was sure that happiness is when people understand you. The result of this belief was the years of expectations and demands – understanding from others. The desire to be understood is the trap of happiness and the cause of disappointment. After all, people do not have to think like you, feel like you, act like you. It is much more important for happiness to understand the world of another person. And find the key to his heart.

Today, my feeling of happiness is not related to other people. And even events. This is an internal setting, the paradigm of thinking and attitude. Happiness is when you do not need anything at the moment, except for what is already there. A collection of such moments gradually forms a state that I call total satisfaction. When overflowing gratitude to the Creator for everything that happens. For all that was, and all that is.

I am happy when I can start my morning with freshly ground coffee, wake up from the rays of the sun and not hurry anywhere. When I can be alone or have fun in the company. The main thing is to trust your desires and not to confuse one with the other. I am happy when traveling and discover the world. When the thing that you do is still tickling something inside, and this is called being in the flow. When I create and create something new. When a loved one continues to amaze and excite. And gets excited. Despite years of relationships. Happiness is a choice. Create your life as a work of art. And this is the only way to love it.

Main body

What is happiness? What does it look like? How to achieve it? Probably each of us at least once in his life asked this question. It seems to me that it is simply impossible to unequivocally answer this question. I can say what happiness is for me at the moment. But after all, happiness is different for everyone. And, moreover, for one person at different times, happiness is different.

Each in his own way sets priorities. And with age, we change, and our views on some things also change. Therefore, we can see happiness in different ways. For some, happiness is money, for someone – relationships. Someone sees his success as happiness. And someone is happy when riding on the carousel. For a person who is sick, happiness is the support of his loved ones. And for his family and friends, happiness is to see him healthy.

What is happiness for me? For me, this is a great mood, smiles of loved ones, health. It seems to me that without joy on the face of family and friends, happiness is impossible. Happiness is to see your beloved people every day, to have the opportunity at any moment to come and hug. This is happiness in a global sense. And in the narrow sense I am happy when I walk in the fresh air. I am happy when I have little homework and can walk more. And I am happy on my birthday. When everyone pays attention to me, they prepare gifts. This is also a kind of happiness.

Happiness is a very multifaceted phenomenon. After all, a lot of different things can make us happy. I believe that, first of all, happiness is harmony. When inside does not rage a hurricane of passions, experiences. When you are calm and warm at heart. Harmony in everything. When all is well at school, at home, with health, with friends. If you can compare it with the cooking process, well, for example, a cake. All of these are ingredients. Happiness is a cake. So, only with an ideal ratio, the right proportions, with full harmony of all the ingredients, the cake will turn out delicious. Similarly, happiness. Only with the balance of all the components there is happiness in a person’s life. The only difference is that each has his own ingredients, so the cake is different in taste. And the actions of the baker himself are important. After all, if we just put all the ingredients together, the cake itself will not bake. No wonder they say “Man himself is the creator of his happiness.”

We ourselves must make great efforts to be happy. For example, I say that for me happiness is success at school, at home, with friends. But if you think well, you will understand that it all depends directly on me. Success in school depends on me. If I study well, I will have good grades. Good relationship at home also depends on me. Not only on me, of course, but more so. If I am not rude to my parents, we will not argue. Good relationship with friends again is my business. If I am kind, sociable, and responsive, then I will have many good friends. Thus, I concluded that happiness is different for everyone, and each person has its own components. But the most important thing that I understood is that we create our own happiness, and make it the way we want. Only with your desire and diligence, you can achieve real happiness.

Conclusion

For me personally, happiness is when I see that those who are dear to me are happy. True happiness is when you can help others. Happiness that comes from sense of gratification – it temporarily and quickly passes. We think that we will be happy if we have some position in society, and we will be praised for something, and we will try to enjoy it. But then we will see that nobody cares about our position, whether we have this wealth or not.

True happiness is truly enduring – giving people joy, giving what they need. Treat everyone as we would like them to treat us and consider the needs of people as our own needs. And then – this happiness becomes true and it is imperishable. To do unselfishly is a happiness that does not depend on anything. Happiness is something that cannot be shaken by anything.

No one can be happy constantly. But, probably, this is the whole charm of this feeling that it is unexpected, not permanent, vulnerable. Life is built on trifles, so do not want something huge, you need to see the happiness in the small things.